India is celebrating the year 2012 as ‘National Mathematical Year’, which also coincides with 125th anniversary of the great Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, which falls on 22nd of December to be celebrated as ‘National Mathematics Day’ every year hereafter. The announcement came from Dr. Manamohan Singh, in last December, when he reminded the parents and students of the importance of mathematics as “the mother science” that was also influencing the study of social sciences in a big way.

Arguing for popularising mathematics as an academic discipline, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, invalidates general perception that the pursuit of the subject did not lead to attractive career possibilities; as new opportunities are always available to mathematicians. However, he expresses regret that the country did not have enough competent mathematicians.

He had expressed his concern at an event. “It is a matter of concern that for a country of our size, the number of competent mathematicians we have is badly inadequate. Over more than the last there decades, many of our young men and women with a natural ability in mathematics have not pursued the discipline at advanced levels,” he had said, this resulted in a decline in the quality of maths teachers at the school and college levels.

On an occasion he had also called upon the mathematical community to address the shortage of top quality mathematicians in the country as part of their duty and suggested to reach out to the public, especially in the modern context where mathematics has tremendous influence on every kind of human endeavour.

“Mathematics has also influenced the study of social sciences in a big way. Students, parents and people at large need to be aware of these facts so that the study of mathematics as an academic discipline gains popularity,” the Prime Minister said.

The article is based on the excerpts from Dr. Singh’s speeches on various occasions, to make our contribution to reach his views to the public through this weblog.